{"id":21501,"date":"2023-12-17T01:28:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T07:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=21501"},"modified":"2023-12-17T01:28:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T07:28:17","slug":"one-fourth-of-united-methodist-churches-in-us-have-left-in-schism-over-lgbtq-ban-what-happens-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=21501","title":{"rendered":"One fourth of United Methodist churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church have received permission to leave the denomination during a five-year window, closing this month, that authorized departures for congregations over disputes<\/a> involving the church\u2019s LGBTQ-related policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year alone, 5,641 congregations received permission from their regional conferences to leave the denomination as of Thursday, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News. In total, 7,658 have received permission since 2019. Thursday marked the last scheduled regional vote, according to the news service, when the Texas Annual Conference authorized four congregations\u2019 departures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast major are conservative-leaning churches responding to what they see as the United Methodists\u2019 failure to enforce bans on same-sex marriage and the ordaining of openly LGBTQ persons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new year is expected to bring more changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first denomination-wide legislative gathering in eight years, slated for spring 2024, will consider\u00a0calls to liberalize<\/a>\u00a0policies on marriage and ordination. It will also debate rival proposals, either to decentralize the international church \u2014 which has at least as many members outside the United States as in \u2014 or provide overseas congregations with the same exit option their U.S. counterparts had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The schism marks a historic shift in a denomination that was until recently the third largest in the United States, and perhaps the closest to the mainstream of American religious culture \u2014 its steeples prominent in rural crossroads and urban squares, scenes of countless potluck suppers, earnest social outreach, and warm yet decorous worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many departing congregations have joined the more conservative Global Methodist Church<\/a>, with others joining smaller denominations, going independent or still considering their options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United Methodist rules forbid same-sex marriage rites and the ordination of \u201cself-avowed practicing homosexuals,\u201d but progressive Methodist churches and regional governing bodies in the U.S. have increasingly been defying<\/a> these rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives have mobilized like-minded congregations to exit. The Global Methodist Church has declared its intention to enforce such rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are sad about losing anybody,\u201d said New York Area Bishop Thomas Bickerton, president of the United Methodists\u2019 Council of Bishops. \u201cThere\u2019s also \u2014 at the end of the year \u2014 grief and trauma, parishioners that have said goodbye to friends, pastors who have had relationships over the years that have ended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He depicted the debates in the church as difficult, and said some who urged churches to disaffiliate used \u201cfalsehoods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis whole disaffiliation process has in large measure not been about human sexuality, it\u2019s been about power, control and money. That\u2019s surprising and disappointing,\u201d Bickerton said. \u201cIt\u2019s time for this denomination to pivot\u201d to focusing on mission rather than disaffiliation votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Methodists reported having 30,543 U.S. churches as of 2019 and 6 million U.S. members as of 2021. It had at least one church in 95% of U.S. counties, more than any other religious group, according to the 2020 Religion Census, produced by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no immediate estimate on how many individual members are leaving the UMC, since some members of departing congregations are joining other UMC churches,<\/a> but the departing churches include some of the largest in their states. UMC officials are already preparing historic budget cuts to denominational agencies in anticipation of lower revenue from fewer churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UMC also reports having 7 million members overseas as of 2019, the majority in Africa, where more conservative sexual mores are common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, a special legislative gathering of Methodists voted to strengthen longstanding bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination. The votes came from a coalition of conservatives in the U.S. and overseas, particularly from fast-growing African churches. At the same time, that conference offered a five-year window for U.S. churches to leave under somewhat favorable terms, such as being able to keep their properties while compensating the denomination for certain costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That measure was expected to be used by progressive congregations dissenting with the letter of the church law, and a handful did take the church up on its offer. But in the end, the vast majority of departing congregations reflect conservative dismay over what they saw as the denomination\u2019s failure to discipline those defying church law, as well as other liberal trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the legislative General Conference, scheduled for April and May in Charlotte, North Carolina, efforts to lift bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination are expected to have a strong chance, given the departure of many conservative votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delegates will also consider a decentralization plan favored by progressives \u2014 which, among other things, would enable U.S. and overseas churches to set separate standards for ordination and marriage \u2014 and another sought by conservatives enabling overseas churches to leave under the same provisions that U.S. churches had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rev. Keith Boyette, who is the Global Methodist Church\u2019s top executive, said it has registered about 4,100 U.S. churches so far \u2014 former UMC churches as well as new ones organized by former United Methodists whose congregations voted to stay in the UMC. It has been organizing in other countries where United Methodist churches or individuals left that denomination, he said, such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Kenya, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s unclear how many U.S. churches are going independent, but \u201cthe fact that so many churches have aligned indicates their commitment to wanting to be part of a connectional system,\u201d Boyette said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rev. Scott Field, president of the conservative Wesleyan Covenant Association, which has advocated for churches leaving the UMC, said congregations\u2019 experiences varied in regional conferences, depending on what financial and other conditions they have required of churches. \u201cIt\u2019s been punitive in some and it\u2019s worked seamlessly in others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the slogan, \u201cFair for some, fair for all,\u201d the group will be advocating for overseas churches to have the same option to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field predicted \u201can African wave\u201d of churches seeking to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several African bishops, however, issued a statement in 2022 denouncing efforts to get churches to leave as false and destructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field also predicted many U.S. churches, despite missing the 2023 deadline, may try to exit under other church law provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like every congregation, whether it\u2019s a liberationist church or a solidly evangelical church, to end up where they\u2019d like to be,\u201d Field said. \u201cIt makes no sense for our United Methodist Church to attempt locking the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan Lawrence, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, said the personal toll of the schism is deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She knew members of a church that had an acrimonious break after it chose to disaffiliate. \u201cIt really broke relationships,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She expressed hope that the 2024 General Conference will open ordination and marriage rites to LGBTQ persons \u2014 realizing a decades-long goal for the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose churches that are disaffiliating and joining the Global Methodist Church, I hope they find what they\u2019re looking for and they\u2019re able to thrive as a new denomination,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know anyone that doesn\u2019t want everybody to live into what they believe God is calling them to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bickerton said he particularly laments the departure of many churches that are longtime, rural-area fixtures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Methodism came to the United States, it went to where the people were. It was carried in the saddlebags of the circuit riders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A return to informal ministry may be needed to maintain a presence in many regions, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hallmarks of United Methodism is a theology based on grace, hope, joy, love and justice,\u201d he said. \u201cWhere do we send people strategically so that message can be heard?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church have received permission to leave the denomination during a five-year window, closing this month, that authorized departures for congregations over disputes involving the church\u2019s LGBTQ-related policies. This year alone, 5,641 congregations received permission from their regional conferences to leave the denomination as of Thursday, according to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[10444,2381,1861,1447,25066],"class_list":["post-21501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-america-2","tag-ban","tag-lgbtq","tag-quarter","tag-united-methodist-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21503,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21501\/revisions\/21503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}